Bailey v. Vining, Civ. A. No. 76-199-MAC.

Decision Date14 May 1981
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. 76-199-MAC.
Citation514 F. Supp. 452
PartiesWillie BAILEY et al., Plaintiffs, v. Roy L. VINING, Jr., et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Middle District of Georgia

Chris Coates, Atlanta, Ga., for plaintiffs.

Jesse Copelan, Jr., D. D. Veal, Eatonton, Ga., Wayne B. Bradley, Sanford Bldg., Milledgeville, Ga., for defendants.

OWENS, Chief Judge:

This action is brought by Willie Bailey and other black plaintiffs representing all black citizens of Putnam County, Georgia, and of Eatonton, Georgia, as a class, claiming that the at-large method of electing the city's mayor and commissioners, the county commissioners, and the county board of education members abridges the rights of the city and county blacks under the First, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments of the Constitution of the United States. After repeatedly encouraging the parties at the numerous conferences and hearings to resolve this matter without the intervention of the court, and after their apparent failure to so do, this order reluctantly constitutes the court's findings of fact and conclusions of law concerning the voting dilution claims raised by plaintiffs.

The court finds that all prerequisites for the maintenance of a class action are here satisfied and therefore certifies the class of plaintiffs to be all black residents of Putnam County, Georgia. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2).

FINDINGS OF FACT
A. A History of Racial Segregation in Putnam County

Putnam County, Georgia, with its 1970 population of 8,394, is located approximately forty-one miles to the northeast of Macon, Georgia, and approximately sixty miles to the southeast of Atlanta. According to the 1970 Federal Census 4,092 or 48.7% of the residents of Putnam County are black. The 1970 Census further indicates that 1,950 residents or 47.7% of the black population are "Under 18 Years" as compared to 1,359 white residents "Under 18 Years," or 31.66% of the white population. In 1976 the number of black registered voters was 1,311 (32%) in comparison with 2,847 (68%) white registered voters.

The City of Eatonton is Putnam County's only municipality. According to a 1978 special census conducted at defendants' request, 2,417 or 55.5% of the city's population totalling 4,353 are black and 1,931 or 44.5% of the city's population are white. Despite such numbers blacks have not shared equally in the political process in Putnam County.1

The depressed socio-economic status of the black community is but one reason advanced for this lack of black participation in the political process. Eighty-one percent (81%) of those over the age of 25 in Putnam County who had completed four years or less of schooling are black. The median number of school years completed for a white female in Putnam County is 10.4 and for a white male is 9.3. The corresponding numbers for blacks is 7.5 for a black female and 6.0 for a black male. Whites generally earn $3,500 or 78% more per year than blacks. Consistent with these figures, 45% of all black residents exist below the poverty level, blacks represent the greater percentages of those who rent homes, and blacks suffer from poor public services more than the whites. Seventy-six percent (76%) of those dwellings in the county that lack some or all plumbing within, are occupied by black families. In the City of Eatonton, 90% of such units are occupied by black families. Almost one in two black households lack some or all plumbing. The policy defining which streets within the county and city are to be paved is now and has been applied in a discriminatory manner. While many streets serving black families remained unpaved, the official minutes of the Board of Commissioners reflect that the county agreed to pave the road to the all-white private school within a year after the institution was founded. Conversely it appears that only with commencement of federal revenue sharing funds has any paving been done in the black areas.

Other examples of this official discriminatory treatment can be readily gleaned from past records of the county and city officials. Examples of this conduct include the operation of white-only swimming facilities prior to 1968. For three years a private corporation, the Service League, was organized to operate the pool based upon an annual fee. The only "service" this league provided was to whites since blacks were still denied the use of the pool. In 1970 the city alleviated its problem by building a pool in the "colored section of town." Putnam County schools were totally segregated on the basis of race until the 1965-66 school year. Housing projects maintained by the Eatonton Housing Authority continue to be segregated on the basis of race. While the above represent but a few of the past official actions taken by county and city board members, they serve to highlight the double-standard with regard to whites and blacks within Putnam County.

Typical of many counties throughout the South, the winners of Putnam County's democratic primary elections also win the subsequent general elections to state and local offices. Putnam County's blacks could not vote in the democratic primary of this state until King v. Chapman, 62 F.Supp. 639 (M.D.Ga.1945), aff'd, 154 F.2d 460 (5th Cir. 1946) was decided by this court. In an apparent attempt to counter the impact of the King decision, Eatonton's city charter was legislatively amended2 in 1947 to abolish primary elections and literacy tests were introduced in 1946 as a prerequisite to voter registration throughout Putnam County. No blacks registered to vote in Putnam County prior to 1948. The literacy tests effectively disenfranchised a large percentage of blacks until use of those tests was prohibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Despite this court's decision in Anderson v. Courson, 203 F.Supp. 806 (M.D.Ga. 1962), outlawing the use of segregated voting lists, such lists were maintained in Putnam County until after the filing of this lawsuit in 1976. The designation found at the top of the 1976 list accurately depicts past and present reality: the black list was titled "Black Voters" and the white list "Voters." Voter registration cards were filed separately by race until just before this lawsuit commenced.

As already noted, actions of the local Democratic Party control elections in Putnam County. Until 1972 no blacks ever served on the Executive Committee of the local Democratic Party. Two blacks were appointed to the committee in 1972, which at that time numbered 18 to 20 members. Blacks have never been appointed as election officials in the rural precincts of Putnam County. In Eatonton black participation as election officials has been disproportionately low. Although repeated requests were lodged in hopes of improving black voter registration, no black was appointed to the Board of Registrars and no black was appointed as a deputy registrar until after this suit began.

Despite their high percentages in the Putnam County and Eatonton population, blacks have lost every opposed at-large election in this century.

In any area the size of Putnam County and Eatonton local government employment has a large impact upon income and status. Blacks are grievously underrepresented among county employees. In 1976 only nine of the sixty-six non-elected employees of Putnam County were black. Of the nine, five were employed as laborers or janitors.

While blacks are employed by the city in appropriate percentages, they remain relegated to the lower income, labor oriented jobs.3

Since desegregation of the school system the number of blacks employed as teachers, principals, and system-wide coordinators has dropped from 55% of the total educational employment pool in 1969-70 to 38% of such in 1977-78.

In addition to their underrepresentation in the local government employment pools, blacks are also underrepresented on boards and committees appointed by the Board of Commissioners and the Eatonton City Council. The evidence of records shows that the Board of Commissioners has failed to appoint a single black to the Putnam County Development Authority, the Putnam County Board of Tax Assessors, the Putnam County Forestry Board, or the Putnam County Airport Committee. In addition the Board of Commissioners has never appointed a black to serve as Civil Defense Director or as Putnam County Sanitarian. While blacks have been appointed to serve on some county committees, the reasons for their appointments stem not from the voluntary actions of county officials, but instead can be traced to other reasons. In 1973, when both the Board of Commissioners and City Council were informed that new regulations of the Oconee Area Planning Commission required the appointment of black persons to serve on the Oconee Area Planning and Development Commission, a black was appointed for the first time. Plaintiff Bailey is the first and only black member of the seven-member Putnam County Hospital Authority. His appointment seemingly results from an attempt on the part of the Board of Commissioners to appease the black community. The City of Eatonton has never appointed a black to serve as Building Inspector and has appointed only one black to serve as a member of the board of the Eatonton Housing Authority (EHA), a body whose primary function is to provide low income housing assistance, a service of substantial importance to the black community.

Perhaps it is the lack of membership by blacks on the Eatonton Housing Authority which has allowed that body to continue to operate on a racially segregated basis. A 1974 administrative investigation of the housing authority by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found that the project was maintained on a racially segregated basis; that "race-mixing" was not a goal of the Authority; that the white executive director would not meet with blacks to discuss housing problems; and, that the segregated assignment policies of the...

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  • Clark v. Putnam County, No. 01-10859.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)
    • June 10, 2002
    ...process in violation of their Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution. Bailey v. Vining, 514 F.Supp. 452, 463 (M.D.Ga.1981). The court ordered the creation of four electoral districts,1 with Districts 1 and 2 to be remedial majority-minority districts.......
  • Abrams v. Johnson
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    ...437 F.Supp. 137, 158 (M.D.Ga. 1977) (Albany, Ga.); Pitts v. Busbee, 395 F.Supp. 35, 40 (N.D.Ga.1975) (Fulton County); Bailey v. Vining, 514 F.Supp. 452, 461 (M.D.Ga.1981) (Putnam County); Wilkes County v. United States, 450 F.Supp. 1171, 1174 (D.D.C.1978); see generally E. Foner, Reconstruc......
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    ...Paige v. Gray, 437 F.Supp. 137 (M.D.Ga.1977); Fulton County, Pitts v. Busbee, 395 F.Supp. 35 (N.D.Ga. 1975); Putnam County, Bailey v. Vining, 514 F.Supp. 452 (M.D.Ga.1981); and Wilkes County, Wilkes County, Georgia v. United States, 450 F.Supp. 1171 (D.D.C.1978). (Pls.' and Defs.' Stipulati......
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